THE need for air cargo ground handling services at London's Heathrow airport has surged to such an extent in the past year that there is now the prospect of a shortage of capacity, reports London's Air Cargo Eye.
The situation has prompted ground handling specialist Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to increase its facility footprint at the UK hub airport after a 30 per cent growth in volumes in the past year.
WFS has signed a five-year lease on Building 578, which is located in the airport's cargo area, in a deal that boosts its warehouse and office space at the airport by some 27,000 sq ft.
The additional building, which is due to commence operations in October of this year, features eight landside doors for cargo deliveries and collections and a 20-ft truck dock.
WFS also plans to install a 7,000-sq ft area especially for ambient shipments as well as dedicated storage areas for temperature-controlled cargoes requiring a 2-8 degrees Celsius environment, says a statement.
The new facility means WFS will increase its total cargo handling space at the London airport to nearly 350,000 sq ft.
'After strong growth in our tonnage throughput in 2021, and with cargo volumes expected to increase by a further 25 per cent this year, it's important that we are proactive in ensuring we have the capacity and infrastructure our current airline customers need to support their products and services,' says Paul Carmody, WFS's UK cargo managing director.
SeaNews Turkey
The situation has prompted ground handling specialist Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to increase its facility footprint at the UK hub airport after a 30 per cent growth in volumes in the past year.
WFS has signed a five-year lease on Building 578, which is located in the airport's cargo area, in a deal that boosts its warehouse and office space at the airport by some 27,000 sq ft.
The additional building, which is due to commence operations in October of this year, features eight landside doors for cargo deliveries and collections and a 20-ft truck dock.
WFS also plans to install a 7,000-sq ft area especially for ambient shipments as well as dedicated storage areas for temperature-controlled cargoes requiring a 2-8 degrees Celsius environment, says a statement.
The new facility means WFS will increase its total cargo handling space at the London airport to nearly 350,000 sq ft.
'After strong growth in our tonnage throughput in 2021, and with cargo volumes expected to increase by a further 25 per cent this year, it's important that we are proactive in ensuring we have the capacity and infrastructure our current airline customers need to support their products and services,' says Paul Carmody, WFS's UK cargo managing director.
SeaNews Turkey